Grandmother Lucette’s recipes - Gratin Dauphinois

You probably don’t know my grandmother, which is a great shame as she is such an amazing cook. Tasting her dishes is sheer bliss. From the very first mouthful, a feeling of total pleasure washes over you; from your taste buds to your stomach, it’s sheer unadulterated pleasure.

I’m the type of person who likes to share life’s simple pleasures with my friends, so here are a few of her ‘to-die-for’ recipes for you.

The first is a regional treasure: gratin Dauphinois.

To start with, there is one golden rule that you definitely won’t want to break, for fear of my grandmother making mincemeat out of you: you never put cheese in a gratin dauphinois! Never ever! It -isn’t-a-tar-ti-flette!

Right, now we’re clear on that point, let’s get started. Here is the genuine gratin Dauphinois recipe.

Method: -Pre-heat your oven to 140 °c. -Peel the potatoes and rince them thoroughly.-Slice them but DO NOT rinse them again (rinsing them removes the starch and you need that to ensure the gratin is not too watery). -Heat the milk in a large saucepan with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to the boil and add the potatoes. Leave to cook on a gentle heat for around 10 minutes.-Butter your dish with the first knob of butter, then rub the bottom of the dish with the garlic. -Pour the potatoes and the milk into the dish, then add the cream. -Put little flecks of butter all over the top, using the 2nd knob of butter. -Put in the oven and cook for about 2hrs. The slower it cooks, the tastier it will be. The potatoes should be soft, but still hold their shape and the top should be golden and crunchy.

My Grandmother’s tip: reheated for an hour or so, your gratin will be even nicer the next day!

AKA “the kid”. Inquisitive and reflective, she loves to laugh, chuckling, chortling and cracking up no matter what, “laughter truly is the coolest contagious disease”. She’s addicted to the Net, using it everywhere, for everything…